GSA Annual Meeting in Denver, Colorado, USA - 2016

Paper No. 245-10
Presentation Time: 9:00 AM-6:30 PM

GEOLOGIC MAP OF DEATH VALLEY NATIONAL PARK, NEVADA AND CALIFORNIA


WORKMAN, Jeremiah B., U.S. Geological Survey, Geosciences and Environmental Change Science Center, P.O. Box 25046, DFC, MS 980, Lakewood, CO 80225, MENGES, Christopher, U.S. Geological Survey, Tucson, AZ 85719, FRIDRICH, Christopher J., U.S. Geological Survey, Box 25046, DFC, MS 980, Denver, CO 80225 and THOMPSON, Ren A., U.S. Geological Survey, Geosciences and Environmental Change Science Center, DFC, Box 25046, MS 980, Denver, CO 80225, jworkman@usgs.gov

Compilation of new and existing geologic mapping throughout the Death Valley National Park (DEVA) area has been completed at 1:150,000-scale. The new digital geologic map covers the entire 13,750 square kilometers of the park and adjacent areas to the west, south, and east totaling 19,520 square kilometers. Geologic map coverage is bordered by Panamint Valley and the Inyo and White Ranges to the west, Amargosa and Pahrump Valleys to the east, the Avawatz Range to the south and the Sylvania Mountains and Nevada-California border to the north. The geologic map includes new tectonic synthesis and interpretation of many previously unrecognized or poorly mapped structural features and lithostratigraphic units. A regionally comprehensive stratigraphic correlation of all mapped units is presented. The geologic database represents the first internally consistent, geospatially rectified, large-scale representation of the geology of DEVA and is intended to provide basic geologic framework upon which future research and management decisions can be built. A preliminary version has been incorporated into the NPS Geologic Resources Inventory (GRI) database to facilitate internal management within the park. Multiple unpublished iterations of this mapping project have been presented over the past 15 years at various meetings and workshops, but the post-review version presented here reflects the pre-release representation with an expected publication date in 2017. This project was funded primarily by the USGS National Cooperative Geologic Mapping Program with assistance from the National Park Service and the Department of Energy.